Caterina Valente


Caterina Valente is an Italian multilingual singer, guitarist, dancer, and actress. Valente is a polyglot; she speaks six languages, and sings in eleven. While she is best-known as an international performer, Valente also spent part of her career in the United States, where she performed alongside Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Perry Como, and Ella Fitzgerald, among others.

Career

Valente was born in Paris, France. In 1953, she made her first recordings with Kurt Edelhagen. Soon afterwards she achieved success with songs such as "Malagueña", "The Breeze and I", and "Dreh dich nicht um" with the Werner Müller orchestra.
In 1955, she was featured on The Colgate Comedy Hour with Gordon MacRae. In 1958, she filmed the musical comedy Hier bin ich – hier bleib ich which featured a guest appearance by Bill Haley & His Comets. During Haley's segment, Valente sings a duet with Haley on a newly recorded version of his song "Vive la Rock and Roll".
Caterina Valente also appeared atleast once on the world famous weekly Ed Sullivan Show with her brother Silvio Francesco playing horn performing a special skillful song duet on the ED SULLIVAN SHOW episode also featuring Leslie Uggams, Joan Rivers, Tony Holland, the Schaller Brothers, Eric Brenn, and Blood, Sweat and Tears!!!!
In the mid 1960s, Valente worked with Claus Ogerman and recorded material in both Italian and English that he arranged/conducted and/or composed on the Decca and London labels. Valente was a favorite of singer Perry Como, making eight guest appearances on his NBC Kraft Music Hall television program from 1961-66. Between 1966-72, she was a frequent guest on The Dean Martin Show.
In Germany, she was a major performer of Schlager music. There, she recorded Cole Porter's I Love Paris under the German title Ganz Paris träumt von der Liebe, which sold more than 900,000 copies in 1954.
Over the years, she has recorded or performed with many international stars, including Louis Armstrong, Chet Baker, Perry Como, Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Goodman, Woody Herman, Claus Ogerman, the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, Sy Oliver, Buddy Rich and Edmundo Ros.
In 1959, she was nominated for a Grammy Award. Valente was a principal on the CBS variety series The Entertainers. A briglia sciolta, the Italian jazz CD recorded in 1989 and re-released in later years under the titles Fantastica and Platinum deluxe, was her best-selling CD worldwide. In 2001, she released a new album, Girltalk, with harpist Catherine Michel.

Personal life

Of Italian ancestry, Valente was born and grown up in France, she is a French citizen. During her marriage to her first husband she held a German passport. One of four children, she was born into a musical family; her father, Giuseppe, was an accordion player, and her mother, Maria, was a musical comedienne.
In 1952, Valente married German juggler Erik van Aro. He recognized her talent and accompanied her in her initial years of worldwide success. They later divorced. Their son is singer Eric van Aro. Their daughter is Laura Valente.
In 1972, Valente married British pianist Roy Budd. They had a son, Alexander, before divorcing in 1979.
A polyglot, Valente speaks six languages, all of which she can also sing in. In addition, she is capable of singing in Dutch, Portuguese, Hebrew, Greek and Japanese.
Valente is a longtime resident of Lugano, Switzerland.

Selected album discography

United States